Northeastern women’s basketball was unable to topple a fast-paced and defensively efficient Towson Tigers squad, going down 88-83 at SECU Arena on Friday night.

The Huskies (12-2, 2-1 CAA) made the trip down to Towson, Maryland for a top-of-the-conference matchup early in the CAA portion of the season, with both teams sitting on 2-0 league records heading into the contest.

A career-high 30 points for Towson junior Nukiya Mayo helped set the tone early, and she maintained control for her team the rest of the game.

The Tigers (9-5, 3-0) flustered Northeastern’s backcourt with a strong full-court press, allowing them to capitalize on turnovers in the first quarter — they forced six in the opening period alone. Towson’s efficient shooting to start the game, five makes of their first seven shots, allowed the home team to control the rest of the quarter.

The Huskies’ shooting in the first quarter was rather uncharacteristic, 4-for-15 compared to Towson’s 10-for-14. To add salt to the wound, Tigers guard Danielle Durjan knocked down a dagger 3-point buzzer-beater to round out the first with Towson leading, 22-13.

Tigers redshirt junior guard Q. Murray continued the momentum with a three to open the second half, hinting that more of the same would ensue. But the Huskies hung with the Tigers for the remainder of the game.

NU senior forward Gabby Giacone played a mere six minutes in the first half as a result of two early fouls, but she made a return in the second half with an instant 3-point play sparking a grind for the Huskies to chip away at the deficit. With 2:03 remaining in the game, junior guard Shannon Todd knocked down two free throws to bring the Huskies to within five, forcing a Tigers timeout.

But that was as close as the Huskies got, as near-perfect free-throw shooting was enough to close the game out and seal the deal for Towson, who move to 3-0 along with James Madison as the only remaining undefeated CAA teams. Northeastern, meanwhile, drops to 2-1.

Standout performances for the Huskies included an all-around game once again from senior guard Jess Genco, who finished with 28 points, eight rebounds, four assists and went 5-5 from the free-throw line. Additionally, Todd and sophomore guard Stella Clark finished the game with 19 and 17 points respectively to round out most of the Huskies’ point totals for tonight.

The Huskies travel to Harrisonburg, Virginia on Sunday to take on an in-form JMU outfit coming off a comfortable win against Hofstra.